UKIP is facing further division after East of England MEP Patrick O'Flynn branded the party's leader a "snarling, thin-skinned, aggressive man."

In an interview with the Times newspaper, he said Nigel Farage risked turning the party into a personality cult.

The comments come after a separate row in which UKIP's Clacton MP Douglas Carswell is refusing to claim £650,000 of taxpayers' money despite pressure from party officials to use the use the funds in full.

Nigel Farage. Credit: PA

"What’s happened since Thursday night, Friday morning has certainly laid us open to the charge that this looks like an absolutist monarchy or a personality cult.

I don’t think that even Nigel would say it’s been the most glorious chapter of his leadership."

Douglas Carswell and Nigel Farage on the campaign trail in Clacton. Credit: PA

Ukip have confirmed that leader Nigel Farage and Clacton MP Douglas Carswell met this afternoon as they try to iron out their differences about how to spend £650,000 of taypayers' money that they're entitled to.

Mr Carswell was approached by Ukip officials earlier this week and asked to spend the party's 'short money' on recruiting 15 new members of staff.

However, he rejected the proposal and insisted that it was inappropriate to spend so much on just one parliamentary office.

Now, Ukip have confirmed that the pair have been in discussions today regarding the disagreement.

"Nigel Farage met with Douglas Carswell this afternoon and there's ongoing discussion about how best to represent four million Ukip voters in a way that is sensible and correct."

Advertisement

UKIP's Douglas Carswell says any new government must bring about a reform of the electoral system to ensure smaller parties are properly represented at Westminster.

The Clacton candidate said parties like the Green Party and UKIP could end up with just a handful of seats despite attracting "three or four million votes" while the SNP got many more representatives in the House of Commons.

"I think tonight's result, whatever the result, will raise some profound questions about the sustainability of an electoral system that's designed for two-party politics in a world of multi-party politics."

– Douglas Carswell, UKIP candidate, UKIP.

Mr Carswell said UKIP would not go into coalition with any party but he considered a Cameron government "a better, more credible alternative to Ed Balls' economics".

But he added it would "be difficult for me to have confidence in a government that wasn't serious about political reform".